In the retail world, autonomous stores are a big step forwards. An autonomous store offers shoppers a unique “checkout-free” experience using a combination of advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), sensor fusion and computer vision.
In a typical autonomous store, multiple cameras may be installed inside the shelves of the store that may automatically pick up signals of a product that has been purchased off a particular shelf and then billed to the right customer. The bill may be presented to the user through an application of the store, executing on the customer's smart phone.
However, a major disadvantage associated with autonomous stores is that a large number of cameras are used to obtain a useful capture of the products. The higher the number of cameras that are on a shelf, the more accurate the information regarding how many products are currently on the shelf, and which product(s) have been taken by the customer. Also, in the current set up, the cameras are fully visible to the customer, and there is a possibility of the users tampering with the cameras. This makes the entire set up inefficient, expensive, cumbersome, and prone to errors.
In view of the above, there is a need for an autonomous store that overcomes the above-mentioned limitations, and is cost-efficient, easy to set-up, and is less prone to errors.